Now you may be wondering, who was wearing the bolo tie? Me or the shark? Answer: YES!

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SOTF Staff

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#312

Joined:

January 4, 2009

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Sassy hairflips

((In loving memory of reasonable timescale. PM if I made some egregious omission or mistake.))

No, they won't come. But a man can dream. The truth won't set you free here. Nothing will set anyone free. Ignorance is bliss.

The truth won't set you free.

No, the revelation will drive you mad.

He shifted uneasily. People would only want to hear what they wanted to hear. Simple to think or to say, but not to truly realize. Maybe Imraan and the rest had already consigned themselves and just wanted some peace of mind. He had no business disturbing that...

"No, you're right, I think we should try something anyway. Just in case (some sympathetic Pacific Islander comes along or a Japanese trawler or heck I dunno, some Icelandic Codfisher...) there is someone out there after all."

Feeling reconciliation and just a little sheepish (although he had just as much right to be wrong as they did), he stepped forward, bag and axe in either hand. He threw both of them down - the axe to head off any uneasiness about aggression, and the bag to extend a hand (or bottle) of friendship: he quickly unzipped it and produced a bottle of water, which he tossed towards David.

"Don't worry, we can get more. I can drag a few logs if you want to rest and help him out, Imraan."

He was probably acting almost suspiciously friendly now, but he didn't care. It was just another thing to think about as he moved to create their futile signal. How silly people could be, thinking they want what they need but really wanting to not want what they needed to want...

Time passed. The signal was, when all was said and done, something they could be proud of. Fruit of their own hands, embellished and smoothed with bits of this and that cut to size with the axe, a rebellion against The Man, and a hope against hope of a safe resolution. They could even, after a successful poll for a lighter owner, create a fire to keep their spirits up. It wasn't quite a bonfire on the beach, but gazing into the friendly glow, listening to the waves crash below, maybe there was more to this SotF thing than crying and dying...

A routine burst of static crackled out from speakers hidden who knows where; they'd now survived two full days, but there was a growing list of those who hadn't.